1. The Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to electronic program guides (EPGs). More specifically, the present invention relates to application program interfaces enabling EPG data sources and applications using EPG data to interface with EPG services.
2. The Prior State of the Art
Electronic program guides (EPGs) are designed to permit television viewers as well as Internet webcast viewers to browse and select from television listings which are displayed on a television screen. Before being displayed, the EPG data is downloaded from an EPG source such as a head end or a server to a destination device such as a television, computer or set top box. The EPG source, which may receive EPG data from a number of different EPG data providers, usually consolidates and encrypts the EPG data before transmitting it to the destination device. In conventional systems, the destination device is only capable of receiving EPG data from only one EPG data source, which indicates that the destination device must accept the format of the EPG data provided by the EPG source. More importantly, the EPG data received by a user cannot be tailored to that user's particular tastes.
The ability to retrieve data from a single source in a particular format is not the only drawback of this arrangement. Many destination devices which receive interactive EPG data have limited storage capacity. For this reason, the EPG data downloaded from a data broker or source is typically compressed such that the destination device may store more EPG data in the limited storage space. This selective compression is primarily performed, however, by the EPG data source. This leaves the destination device with the ability to only alter the amount of EPG data downloaded as opposed to the content of the downloaded EPG data.
In addition to being unable to alter the content of the downloaded EPG data, a destination device is limited in other significant ways. EPG data from multiple EPG data providers must first be collected and consolidated by a particular EPG source before it is downloaded to a destination device. Destination devices are only capable of receiving EPG data from a single EPG data source. Because destination devices can only receive from one data provider, destination devices are limited to a single data transmission format.
Another limitation of current destination devices is that the applications on the destination device that utilize the EPG data must be updated when the EPG data source is changed or altered. Additionally, the applications on the destination device must also be updated when the format of the data source is altered or changed. EPG data is currently being transmitted by various EPG data sources across various transport mediums, but destination devices are unable to take advantage of these sources and mediums because destination devices are limited to one data provider and one format.
EPG data typically includes a title, a description and attributes such as closed captioning, rating, and the like. EPG data can be collected from in-band and out of band television signals, HTTP or FTP, TCP/IP sockets or any other communications protocol. The internet, in particular, has become a significant source of EPG data. In fact, EPG data is expanding to include reviews of programs, the names of the actors, and other types and classes of information. Much of this information is readily available, but destination devices are frequently unable to take advantage of that information because, as previously mentioned, the destination devices are limited to a particular EPG data source and a particular EPG data format.
It would be an advance in the art for a destination device to be able to receive EPG data from multiple EPG data sources and not be confined to a particular EPG data source or EPG data format. It would also be an advance in the art for a destination device to be able to tailor the content of the EPG data by permitting the EPG data to be scaled both temporally and extensibly. Scaling the EPG data in this manner provides a user, at a minimum, with EPG data that is tailored to the user.